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DFS Picks: Top Sleeper plays for Saturday’s college basketball slate (Feb. 1)
The Saturday slate in college basketball is once again loaded. Florida and Tennessee open the day with a top-10 showdown in Knoxville. North Carolina and Duke tangle Saturday night while John Calipari makes his first return to Rupp Arena when Arkansas faces Kentucky.
Below, you’ll find 4 player props to consider across the slate. Each of the 4 plays below can be found within the Sleeper app. Use our exclusive Sleeper promo code SOUTHXL to unlock a sign-up offer that scores you $55 in bonus entries when you play your first $5 contest.
Kentucky G Jaxson Robinson higher than 13.5 points
Kentucky will be without guard Lamont Butler again on Saturday when it faces Arkansas. This will mark the fourth time this season the Wildcats have played without their 6-foot-2 point guard, and that means will see a ton of Otega Oweh/Jaxson Robinson time on the ball. Oweh is already a significant focal point of the UK offense, but Robinson has stepped his involvement up in Butler’s previous 3 absences. In those 3 games without Butler, Robinson played 35 minutes a night (up from his season average of 28.9) and attempted 17.1 shots from the field per 40 minutes (up from his season average of 15.2). Robinson is scoring 18.1 points per 40 on the season and is firing away from deep. In 105 Butler-less minutes, Robinson has attempted 25 triples. Since SEC play began, Arkansas has allowed the second-highest conversion rate from 3 of any team in the league (36.9%) and ranks 10th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Tennessee G Chaz Lanier less than 19.5 points
The last time Tennessee faced Florida, Lanier managed just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting as the Volunteers got rocked. The Gators won by 30 in what was the worst loss by an AP No. 1 in nearly 6 decades. UT missed its first 9 shots in the game and finished the first half with just 4 made shots from the field. But Florida didn’t shoot particularly well either. The Gators shot 39.7% for the game and made just 6 of their 20 attempts from 3-point range. Even if the Tennessee offense shows up for the rematch, this will be a grind-it-out kind of game. And Lanier has been slowed significantly since conference play began. In the nonconference, Lanier averaged 19.6 points per game. Against SEC teams, he is averaging 14.9 points on 34.5% shooting. And Lanier has gone under his projected point total in 5 of his last 7 outings. He’s in a slump from 3 as well, going just 5-for-16 in his last 2 after a 5-for-12 performance against Mississippi State. Florida has been among the SEC’s leaders in effective field goal percentage against since conference play began.
Louisville G Chucky Hepburn higher than 7.5 assists
This season, 54% of all made field goals against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have been assisted on. In league play, teams are averaging 16 assists a game against the Yellow Jackets. Enter Chucky Hepburn, who is averaging a career-best 6.4 assists this season as the hub of the Louisville offense. And he has been on an absolute heater of late, dishing at least 7 assists in 10 straight games. He has 32 in his last 3 games. Georgia Tech ranks in the top 70 in adjusted tempo, per KenPom, so possessions should be plentiful in this matchup. And past guards have had plenty of success setting the table for their teammates against the GT defense. SMU’s Boopie Miller (5.7 APG) had 9 against Georgia Tech on Jan. 11, Notre Dame’s Matt Allocco (3.0 APG) had 7 in the first of 2 meetings, and Cincy’s Jizzle James (4.1 APG) had 7 in a nonconference game earlier this season.
Duke F Cooper Flagg higher than 24.5 points
The 6-foot-9 Flagg gets his first taste of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry on Saturday night, and he should have a statement performance. Flagg is averaging 27 points a game over his last 5 appearances, with a 28-point performance against NC State his last time out. And there are a couple of indicators that this will be a favorable matchup for another Flagg explosion. First, Carolina loves to push the tempo and Flagg has been highly productive in games against similar-paced teams. The Blue Devils have faced 4 teams inside the top 100 of KenPom’s adjusted tempo metric and Flagg has scored at least 24 points in 3 of the 4 games. Second, Flagg has stepped up in a major way when Duke has been under the spotlight. In 5 games against Kentucky, Arizona, Kansas, Auburn, and Louisville earlier in the year, Flagg averaged 21 a game. All eyes will be on the freshman Saturday night when he makes his debut in one of sport’s greatest rivalries. And third, Carolina doesn’t really have anyone to consistently throw at Flagg on the defensive end without compromise. The guards are on the shorter end. The top 2 options at the 4 are 6-foot-6 and 6-foot-4. If Carolina wants to put center Ven-Allen Lubin on Flagg, Duke’s 5s are going to feast inside.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.